• The Texans score a touchdown to make the score 20-15 with 7:43 in the fourth quarter. Bill O’Brien decides to go for two. The Texans decide on a shovel pass to Lamar Miller, which is easily handled by the Giants’ front seven. We understand the thinking in going for two to make it a three-point game. But with eight minutes left and your defense not allowing any points in the second half, giving up a point was not necessary at this stage. The Giants’ next possession was a great drive that ended with a touchdown to Sterling Shepard, so the decision ended up not impacting the outcome of the game.

Key Observations:

• The Giants decided to bench tackle Ereck Flowers for Chad Wheeler and it ended up providing a bit of a boost to the offensive line. Wheeler played well in the run game. He struggled at times with the strength and speed of J.J. Watt, but overall held his own

• Great job by Pat Shurmur to rotate his running backs throughout the game, which helped keep Saquon Barkley fresh for the final drive of the game. Barkley had a huge catch down the sideline that helped set up the final score from Eli Manning to Shepard. Wayne Gallman and veteran Jonathan Stewart played a part in the win.

• Giants offense line played a strong game against the solid front of the Texans, which shut down the running game of the Titans the week before. Shurmur had a great game plan that produced a balanced offense — 27 rushes and 29 passes.

• Deshaun Watson was inaccurate for the majority of the game and the front four of the Giants provided consistent pressure, which made Watson uncomfortable for the majority of the game. Watson made a huge mistake in the fourth quarter when he had a pass intercepted by Alec Ogletree in the end zone, costing the Texans a chance for points.

• Watt looks like he is back to his all-pro self after missing last season with an injury. He ended up with three sacks and showed the strength and speed that made him the Defensive Player of the Year before his injuries.

• The running back combination of Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue ended up with 23 yards rushing on 14 carries as the Texans could not get the ground game going. This needs to change moving forward to help relieve the pressure on Watson and the entire Texans offense as they head into a must-win game against the Colts.

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Headcoachranking.com assigns a grade to the in-game performance of NFL head coaches each week. Our knowledgeable graders analyze each head coach’s performance in 5 key areas of decision making. After determining their “HCR” (Head Coach Ranking), we rank them from best to worst. HCR rankings are posted every Tuesday of the NFL season, and fans will be able to track each coach’s performance throughout the season.